


chicken wire and frostbite

by turtlenecksandsweaters



Series: the word love [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: (everythings the same but gavin has superpowers), Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Gavin Reed is Bad at Feelings, Gavin Reed-centric, Gavin is less of an asshole, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Minor Original Character(s), Polyamory, Superpowered Au, bc i had an idea for gavin whump, gavin is in two consenting relationships, hes just scared, no beta we die like men, slight - Freeform, they all support each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 09:33:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19248499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turtlenecksandsweaters/pseuds/turtlenecksandsweaters
Summary: That was the worst part — you can’t exactly redirect frostbite when no ones inflicting it directly upon you.(The barbed wire on the other hand had no excuse to be this painful so he curses the unreliability of his “powers”.)





	chicken wire and frostbite

Gavin knew damn well just how detrimental his powers were — how fucking  _ stupid  _ they were, and he hated it, hated that they were always in full swing and he wouldn’t even notice, that half the time his shit coping mechanisms didn’t even work because he wouldn’t feel a damn thing and the need for punishment was entirely lost and just sent him down a deeper fucking hole.

 

That’s what landed him here, tied up to a metal chair in the middle of a freezing ass meat locker, barbed wire digging into his arms. He’d pissed off some criminals while on the job, and somehow one of them had the bright idea that torturing him indirectly would actually  _ work _ .

 

And it  _ had _ . That was the worst part — you can’t exactly redirect frostbite when no ones inflicting it directly upon you.

 

(The barbed wire on the other hand had no excuse to be this painful so he curses the unreliability of his “powers”.)

 

“Stupid, fucking  _ useless _ excuse for powers,” he hisses behind clamped teeth, licking his chapped lips despite his better judgement. He tries moving his arms again, groaning against the metal undoubtedly skewering his arms, fuck, he really hoped Nines saw his message.

 

At least he’d taken  _ that  _ precaution before diving in head first. 

 

Closing his teeth around his bottom lip, Gavin kicks his legs out only in frustration, dropping his head back limp and watches his breath come out in puffs like smoke. He could really go for a cigarette right now.

 

His head snaps to the side at the commotion outside of the locker doors, a string of hope tightening around his heart when the doors open. Except, they open with a slam, and one of his kidnappers shoulders in, gun in hand. Gavin smirks when he sees the man’s hands falter as the end of the gun meets his temple.

 

He wouldn’t admit it terrified him and for once he hoped his abilities won’t fail him.

 

The man snarls, ugly and thick. The metal of the gun is fucking  _ cold _ , pressed against his head like that. “Fuck, you ratted us out, damn prick! This was all going fine, I should’ve just killed you.”

 

Gavin grimaces as every word is punctuated with a nudge of the gun, but spits back a remark before he can stop himself. “Luckily for me I’m indestructible, asshole,” grinning, he only feels the first hit as the gun connects with his cheek. The next is numbed completely when David — David Smith, organizer of the anti-android crimes he’d been investigating — recoils with a hiss and grabs his face.

 

“Shoot me and you’re the one whose body’ll be frozen in here,  _ David _ ,” the growl is guttural as it leaves him, the pain in his body finally catching up to him.

 

Again, yelling from outside catches both of their attentions, and Gavin smiles in satisfaction at the widening of David’s eyes. It’d have stayed planted on his face if the gun wasn’t directed right between his eyebrows this time.

 

“I already explained what would happen if you pull that trigger—”

 

“If you die too then I don’t care!”

 

Gavin swallows the next words forced between his lips, feels himself suddenly  _ panic _ — fuck, no one’s actually tried a headshot, he still got wounded, the pain and damage just transferred through to his enemy, too. 

 

He feels the metal tighter around his arms now, starkly aware of the ache in his arms and the cold creeping up his fingers, and he’s scared now, eyes fleeting from David to the door, urging it to burst open and  _ anyone _ — hell, he’d be happy to even see Hank walk through those doors right about now.

 

His heart pounds in his ears, all he can see is  _ red _ , his face feels hot too, so obvious against the bitter chill of the room and then he sees soft brown. Everything is slow, a dull ringing beating back the sound of blood in his system.

 

Gavin almost lurches backwards, but warm hands grab his shoulders; he closes his eyes and ignores the hands circling up to his face.

 

“Detective,” the timbre is lighter, but he can hear the concern there. The voice qoaxes his eyes open finally, and he’s so fucking relieved to see swirling red ( _ red _ ? Fuck, Connor — he looked worried).

 

“Nines is going to cut you free now, please try not to move,” a gentle thumb rubs below his left eye and Gavin crumples forward, forehead falling against the gray of Connor’s jacket and he doesn’t think he’s ever been happier to see the RK800.

 

Hands in his hair help to ground him, and he tries to stay as still as he can when he feels the wire being pulled out of his forearms, fuck, he didn’t realize how deep it had dug into him. 

 

When the last length is pulled out of his biceps Gavin all but cries in relief, soaked arms shaking viciously in the cold. He tries, really does, to ignore them when he tucks them around his stomach. A third hand on his back, larger than the two around his head and Gavin slowly looks up, sees Nines kneeling at his side next to Connor and he shudders a weak smile, lopsided against the swelling of his cheek.

 

With Nines’ added help, they both manage to pull Gavin to a standing position, Connor grimacing at the cracking sound of Gavin’s frozen clothing finally moving again. 

 

His legs fail him half the way out so Nines swoops down, hooks one arm behind his knees and the other under his shoulders and hefts him up easily. Gavin almost yells a protest, but the red of his arms makes him think otherwise and he resigns himself to stay as still as possible, instead listening to the steady hum of Nines’ thirium pump.

 

When Nines releases him onto the waiting gurney Gavin refuses to lay down, just holds his arms out and accepts the thermal blanket thrown over his shoulders and around every part of his body the EMTs don’t need access to.

 

He’s glad, really, that Connor and Nines stay at his side.

 

Gavin’s still shaking but as the medics are about ready to force him down and take him to the hospital he beckons the two androids over, the red of his face a mixture of embarrassment and the swelling from where he’d been hit.

 

“Thank you,” he says it like the words hurt, looking over Connor’s shoulder instead of at them, but he sees their LEDs swirl yellow once, twice, before settling on a happy blue. 

 

Connor makes the first move, wrapping one arm around Gavin’s shoulders and leaning against where his knees dangle over the side of the gurney to press a kiss to his forehead. Nines advances, too, one hand on Connor’s back and the other reaching for the side of Gavin’s face, leaving a shorter, swifter kiss to his temple.

 

“I can speak for us both when I say I care for you, Detective,” Connor says as he steps back, lips quirking into a smile and Gavin wished he could bury his face in his hands but settles for tucking his chin into the blanket. 

 

“What he’s trying to say is, don’t go off on your own like that again,” through the evident malcontentment in his voice, Gavin is almost too happy to glance up at both of them smiling their  _ dumb _ ,  _ shit eating, stupid little smiles _ . 

 

He mumbles out a ‘whatever’, finally letting the female EMT on her last nerve push him back into a lying position.

 

“I’ll see you two losers later.” 

**Author's Note:**

> little explanation: i saw someone talking about a superpower being whatever pain/injury is inflicted upon you is redirected to the person who did the damage to begin with and of course i started thinking about limitations and ways to get around it and that led me to write this. all in one go, too, so im pretty proud of that :)
> 
> ps. “powers” are a rare human trait, and therefore androids don’t have any
> 
> anyways ive fallen into the hole that is d:bh hell all because i saw the gif of gavin winking with both eyes and fell in love as i too am a gay bottom that bullies people i like. and everyone. also cursing. lots of cursing. 
> 
> id really enjoy feedback! im a bit nervous to post this before completing my play-through of the game, but can’t help myself. please excuse any typos/errors, i don’t have a beta reader at the moment


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